Tagged Jobbik

In Hungary, some left-wing Jews are ready to work with a far-right party led by a former neo-Nazi

Hungarian supporters of the far-right Jobbik party participatingin a nationalist march through Warsaw, Poland, Nov. 11, 2015. (JanekSkarzynski/AFP/Getty Images)

BUDAPEST (JTA) — In 2011, Hungary’s largest Jewish group called on the Justice Ministry to ban the far-right Jobbik party, describing it as “anti-Semitic” and “fascist.” Now some in the Jewish community, and even inside Mazsihisz, see Jobbik as a legitimate partner for effecting democratic change, despite its blunt… Read more »

Non-Jewish activists link arms with Hungarian Jews in ‘symbols war’

Protesters at a 2014 rally in Budapest against the Hungarian government's planned statue that was seen as minimizing Hungarian complicity during the Holocaust. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

(JTA) – Hungarian officials likely anticipated some Jewish opposition to their decision to erect a monument in Budapest to a Holocaust-era lawmaker who promoted anti-Semitic legislation. What they probably didn’t expect was that the Feb. 24 unveiling of a bust honoring Gyorgy Donath would attract a protest of mostly… Read more »

Austria beckons as recession, xenophobia prompt Jews to ditch Hungary

Demonstrators protesting racism in Hungary in Budapest, December 2012. (Bela B. Molnar)

BUDAPEST (JTA) — Three years ago, Fanni moved to Vienna from her native Hungary with her husband. Now she is pregnant. Though the couple would prefer to raise their child near their Jewish families in Budapest, rising nationalism and an economic recession are leading them to stay in Austria.… Read more »

‘Never again’ can’t be just a slogan

One of the seminal slogans of the 20th century was the historic refrain “Never again!” This cry that rose from the ashes of the Holocaust was meant to ensure that there would be no repeat of the greatest tragedy in modern European history. The refrain remains hollow if it… Read more »